Reluctant Romeo
by Whistling Fish
Summary: Bruce who else


All the main Characters in this story are owned by DC Comics Time Warner. This is a work of fan fiction and does not intend to infringe their copyright.

Reluctant Romeo

By

Whistling Fish

"Alfred?" Bruce said hesitantly. "Err..."

"Yes young man?" the custodian of Wayne manor asked pausing from dusting the upper shelves of the Library.

"Errr, you know Charlotte Laws"

"The young lady with yellow colored hair? Her parents own the coffee bar down on the boardwalk?" Alfred enquired.

"Her hair is golden, not yellow!" Bruce insisted.

Alfred smiled to himself; at last the young master was taking an interest girls. "Arr, yes, Golden hair, yes my mistake! I believe she's been your lab partner this term."

Bruce nodded enthusiastically. "She's brilliant, she know the entire periodic table by heart!"

"That must be a very useful thing in a lab partner."

"Well, err, yes, but why would she like Dwight Sommertton? He's a thug with an IQ of around 65 on a good day!"

"When you say LIKE, you mean like, as in girlfriend, boyfriend like?"

"Yes! Why would she want to be with him!"

"Why should she not want to be with him Sir? And why are you so concerned? As you've already stated Miss Charlotte is an intelligent young lady, she may well have found some redeeming qualities in Mr Sommertton you have failed to notice."

"Like what!" Bruce demanded. "He beats up on younger kids. Steals lunch money, cheats on tests and is hardly able to string together a sentence that doesn't include profanities. He made my life hell for six months, until I stood up to him, then he turned out to be a coward. So why would she choose to spend her time with him!"

"As apposed to spending time with whom, may I enquire?" Alfred arched an eyebrow as he stared down at his young charge.

Bruce shuffled his feet and went a very pleasing shade of red. Alfred suppressed a grin. His heart lifted at the sight of the young man suffering from his first pangs of love sickness. At last Bruce was acting his age fourteen, not forty.

"Well ...errr.. I asked her if she wanted to do some extra lab work over lunch, but she said she'd be otherwise occupied. I saw her, she was just walking in the park with Dwight and his gang! Then after school I asked her if she wanted to go out, she seemed keen but when I mentioned the library she said she'd forgotten she was expected to go straight home. But that was a fib, because I saw her in the pool at the lido when I rode by, and she was with Dwight!"

Alfred sighed! "Master Bruce, why should you want to be doing extra lab work at lunch time on a beautiful summer's day? And what, may I ask; made you think a charming, beautiful young lady would want to be cooped up inside a stuffy lab when there is a park to walk in?"

"Well, Charlotte loves working in the lab! So I thought she'd jump at the chance to spend more time there."

"And why may I ask did you invite her to the library? Wayne manor has a beautiful outdoor pool, Miss Charlotte could have been your guest here. I'm sure she would have enjoyed that more then the library."

"You don't get it," Bruce insisted "Charlotte loves books. I thought she'd want to go there."

"I love cooking Master Bruce, but on a hot summers day I'd rather be walking in the grounds of the manor, then be cooped up in the kitchen."

"Anyway it doesn't matter" the boy said sullenly "she'd rather be with Dwight, not me!"

Alfred slid down the ladder, much to Bruce's amazement. Alfred just didn't do things like slide down ladders. Well if he did Bruce had never witnessed him doing so before.

"Poppycock young man! You said she was keen to go out after school. It was only when you mentioned your choice of destination she changed her mind."

"Yes,...that's true." Bruce said hesitantly.

"Well, then I'm sure if you invited her to join you for a picnic at the beach on Saturday she would be more receptive."

"Well, ok I'll see what she says. But I still think she'll be too busy with pea brain."

Alfred was sat at the counter of the board walk coffee bar enjoying a cup of good strong tea, a smile on his face as he watched a young couple sat in one of the booths sharing a vivid green milkshake.

"'They make a lovely couple." Diane Laws commented as she served Alfred a lightly toasted English muffin.

"They certainly do." Alfred said smiling.

The young girl skipped over to the counter to collect two ice-cream sundaes from her mother. She smiled up at Alfred. "Thanks for the advice Mr. Pennyworth, hanging around with Dwights gang worked a treat."


End file.
